Prospects

How dare he put us through this again?

It’s always been “heads I win, tails you lose” with Trump, and we let him get away with it. He lacks any sense of decency or decorum, any mature, reasonable sense for what is fair. If he wins, he’ll praise the process and we brace ourselves for Project 2025; if he loses, he’ll lambast the process, question its legitimacy, and set in motion another series of complaints and delaying tactics, holding the entire country hostage while he tries to manufacture a different verdict.

In a perfect scenario, he loses by ten million votes and suffers unexpected losses even in several red states. But even if something approaching that outcome unfolds, we still will have to endure the yelling and screaming and boisterous denial and maybe some huge decision from the Supreme Court.

And if the Electoral College margin is razor thin in his favor, will Dems accept the outcome like they say they’re going to?

It’s been ugly for so long already that it’s hard to imagine it could get even worse. Him winning is unacceptable; him losing isn’t much more palatable, sadly—unless the margin of a Harris victory is so large that it leaves no doubt even among most Trump supporters.

It seems unlikely that that’ll be the way it plays out.